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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian reconnaissance satellites have recently imaged key U.S. and allied military facilities across the Middle East, raising concerns about potential targeting, after returning from a high-stakes trip to Gulf countries now under Iranian attack.
Zelenskyy’s remarks come as Ukraine deepens its role in the region, sharing intelligence and defense expertise with Middle Eastern partners facing Iranian missile and drone strikes.
In a March 28 post on X, Zelenskyy said he had been briefed that Russian satellites photographed multiple strategic sites “in the interests of Iran,” including bases and critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf.
“Everyone knows that repeated reconnaissance indicates preparations for strikes,” he wrote.
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A satellite image from Planet Labs shows a plume of smoke above Tehran, Iran on March 1, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC)
According to Zelenskyy, the surveillance occurred over several days in late March. On March 24, Russian satellites reportedly captured imagery of the U.S.-U.K. military facility on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The following days included Kuwait International Airport and parts of the Greater Burgan oil field, as well as Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Additional sites imaged on March 26 included Saudi Arabia’s Shaybah oil and gas field, Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, one of the largest U.S. military installations in the region.
Some of the locations identified by Zelenskyy, including places in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have been targeted in recent Iranian attacks, though it remains unclear whether the satellite imagery he described was directly used in those operations.
The warning follows Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan, where he discussed security cooperation and shared intelligence with regional leaders.
Incirlik Air Base, Turkey passenger terminal. (U.S. Air Force)
In an interview published Monday by Axios, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had provided Middle Eastern partners with information about Russian support for Iran, including potential targeting assistance.
“I think Russia is supporting Iran directly, 100%,” Zelenskyy told Axios. “The same format of sharing satellite images like they did in the case of Ukraine.”
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Map of US military bases Iran could target (Fox News)
Ksenia Svetlova, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said recent developments point to increased cooperation in that space. “There is more cooperation in everything that has to do with intelligence,” she said, citing reports that Russia has provided Iran with “a target list, basically, through their satellites, American targets, but also air targets in the Gulf.”
Svetlova added that such support enables Russia to assist Iran without deploying troops or equipment.
“They are doing for the Iranians whatever they can without spending money, spending troops, or spending equipment,” she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on Dec. 19, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
The White House has not confirmed the intelligence-sharing but said it is not impacting U.S. operations.
“Nothing provided to Iran by any other country is affecting our operational success. The United States military has struck more than 11,000 targets and destroyed more than 150 Iranian naval vessels, leading to their missile attacks and drone attacks decreasing by 90%. The terrorist Iranian regime continues to be crushed by the full might of the most lethal fighting force in the world,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also downplayed concerns about Russia’s role, telling reporters Friday: “There is nothing Russia is doing for Iran that is in any way impeding or affecting our operation or the effectiveness of it.”
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Foreign workers look at a tall plume of black smoke ascends following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026. Iran’s strikes on Gulf neighbours since February 28, following the US-Israeli attack, forced the UAE to shut its airspace, blindsiding travellers who thought they were headed to one of the region’s safest holiday destinations. (Fadel Senna / AFP via Getty Images)
Lt. Gen. Richard Newton (Ret.), a former U.S. Air Force assistant vice chief of staff, said the reports should not come as a surprise.
“The latest reports that Russia provided essential imaging intelligence to the Iranian regime to target a U.S. air base in Saudi Arabia should surprise no one. Putin is our adversary who can’t be trusted.”
“We should avoid a direct conflict with Moscow,” he added, “but there must be consequences for Russia aiding and abetting the Iranian regime that harms American military personnel and our assets.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) attend a press conference at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw, Poland, Jan. 15, 2025. (Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)
Russia has not publicly responded to Zelenskyy’s claims. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Russian government and the Iranian mission to the United Nations for comment and did not receive responses in time for publication.
Carrie Filipetti, executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition and a former senior State Department official, told Fox News Digital the reports reflect a broader and growing threat.
“There is no clearer signal that Russia is a dangerous adversary than the continued reporting that Russia is providing intelligence targeting Americans to a regime currently engaged in combat against the United States,” Filipetti said.
“American service members’ lives are at continued risk because of Putin’s war machine,” she added, warning that Washington must act to “hold the Russian regime accountable and prevent future American deaths.”
U.S. Army soldiers train at al-Asad air base. The base is located in Western Iraq. (Source: U.S. Army )
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Zelenskyy has also questioned ongoing discussions about easing sanctions on Russia.
“There must be pressure on the aggressor. And lifting sanctions is certainly not pressure,” he wrote.